Does Your Story Matter?
Hows this for a story
The God who created the universe created you. He did it because He could not contain His love - it had to expand! He made you to love, and for you to love Him. As the ultimate creative act, He made you unlike any other being to express His love through you to the world. He knows that there is nothing that the two of you cant do together that He has made you to do.
He gave you free choice - because there is no love without choice. God has never wavered in His love for you, but you have been lured away from Him and His best plan for you. The ways in which you have turned away from Gods love and who you were made to be have left you ashamed, empty, hiding, and feeling less than worthy of His love. In this, you and every person on the earth have separated yourselves from God with no way to rectify the situation on your own.
Even so, God never stops loving you. He made sure you would always have a way back home to Him and His love for you. In the ultimate outpouring love, Jesus death on the cross completely wiped out our sin and shame for the ways that youve turned away and rebelled against God. The events of Good Friday forever bridge the gap between you and God. It is offered as a free gift, ready for the taking if you are humble enough to admit your need and ask for it.
Easters story of Jesus rising from the dead proves Gods power to overcome physical death and provides the promise of heaven where you can live eternally with the God who loves you. But thats not all! He invites you to join Him, in the here and now, bringing His amazing, ever expanding love story to your time and place in history, to the people around you that also so desperately need His love. Thats the story of Easter; new life, freedom, joy and expanding love! You have the choice to co-author a love story with God that will continue to expand through generations. Now, thats a story worth living.
If you ever find yourself wondering if your story matters, remember this:
You were created by the same God that created the universe.
He made you in a beautifully unique way to show something of His character to the world.
God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the ultimate price that would provide a way for you to return to God and His love for you.
God wants to live through you, as He created you to be for the good of the world and the people around you.
You have choices about how to co-author your story with God because of the free choice that love provides.
You are of immeasurable importance to God, and you can choose to live your life story as an ever-expanding extension of the greatest story ever told.
Prayer
Father God,
Help me to value my life and my story as highly as You do. Help me to see who Youve made me to be and what Youve made me to do so I can live a life that is an expression of Your ever-expanding love. Reassure me that with You all things are possible and give me courage to live boldly as I respond to Your love and grace. Amen
Scripture
If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that were at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah! Romans 5:10-11 MSG
Question
Maybe youve heard the story of Good Friday and Easter many times, but what are the specific implications of these events on the life story you have the opportunity to co-author with God?
Sharon Swing is an author, retreat leader, speaker, artist and consultant with interests in life story as a spiritual development tool, crafting experiences that give God space to do what he does best - call souls out of hiding with love and grace. With Sibyl Towner, she has co-authored Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story. For more information, visit www.oneLifemaps.com and sign up to receive notifications of our blog posts, oneLife Letters.
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by: Mary Goodwin
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